Huppah: A Traditional Jewish Wedding Ceremony

The transition into a legally married couple can be expressed to the community through the pairs reunion under the Chuppah cloth. This event allows the Jewish community to witness the couples transformation, from individualism to a married status, which has occured and view the new members of the Jewish community. A seclusive room, also referred to as the Yichud room allows the two bound souls to join together after the marriage, exchange gifts, eat and celebrate their newly married status. The reception is similar yet it allows all members of the Jewish community to celebrate the marriage together through dancing and singing (Naftali Silberberg, 2018). Throughout the Post-Liminal phase of the Jewish wedding ritual the seven benedictions and recited multiple times, conveying the importance they play within the marriage and expressing the couples significance to the religious community. These blessings are a highly significant aspect of the wedding and allow the individuals and community to connect to the transcendent during the finalisation of the marriage. Through different events and actions the Post-Liminal phase of a Jewish marriage increases religious culture by incorporating multiple sociological

There are various customs and traditions for marriage in United States based on varying factors such as culture, social norms, and religion. There are no unique practices because most of practices are derived from other cultures. The marriage practices and customs revolve around wedding attire, before wedding, wedding ceremony, reception, and after wedding. White bridal dresses are worn with a veil in weddings. However, those not wedding for the first time can choose any color of bridal dresses apart from white. Before a wedding, most have bridal showers where the bride receives gifts from the guests. Preparation takes considerable time to plan a wedding. In a wedding, groomsmen and bridesmaids are included (Lilian, 2013). The bride’s father walks the bride down the aisle to indicate approval of the groom. “The typical 21st century wedding can now feature a supporting cast of stepparents, half-siblings, Dad's new girlfriend and her kids, the bride's first stepfather and his new wife, and sometimes even the bride and groom's ex-spouses” Wedding cakes are used and couples kiss as a form of endearment. Cakes are seen symbols of fertility. It is a custom for the newly married woman to

When the party ends the bride throws the bouquet of flowers to all her single friends, the tradition says that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to marry. The couple leaves the party together heading to their honey moon.

If they were to meet each other without the parent’s permission, it is considered as bad manner and bad upbringing. In India, the average age to marry is 24 years old for the males and 22 to 23 years old for the females. Indian weddings are usually the longest wedding, which are held in the night time in a huge wedding hall, that includes many different rituals which are performed in front of the God and the couple promise’s each other that they will be together in a sad or a happy moment, no matter what will be the results. Even though wedding has the same meaning in every culture, the way of celebration and ceremony is different. According to iloveindia.com, the ceremony in India is about the priest, groom, bride, and bride’s parents sit beneath a mandap, and a canopy. The wedding ceremony starts off with the Kanya Daan, in which the bride’s parents give away the bride’s hand to the groom with all her responsibility. Then the couple holds hands together and start circling around a small, enclosed fire in a ritual called the mangal phera for seven times by taking a seven oaths together to spend a rest of the life to live as a one soul. The seven steps around the enclosed fire, is the vow to support each other and live happily together. Finally, the groom will apply a red powder to the center of the bride’s forehead and tie a black beaded necklace around her neck, symbolizing

The Hindu marriage usually takes in the bride’s hometown or city. The venue is generally a town or community hall, or a hotel, depending on the budget of the bride’s family. There are often blessings in the temple before or after the service.

6) Wedding ceremony: it is the final ritual, the bride and groom finally becomes a married couple, followed by the wedding night.

The Jewish community has been practicing wedding ceremonies for many years where the preparations and procedures are very tedious, which takes months in order to prepare for this sacred event. When preparing for these ceremonies, it is important to understand that even though there are various types of ceremonies within the Jewish community, they all however, originated from a centralized resource and that is the Bible. Even though the Bible does not mention about wedding ceremonies, it is the iconic events that occur within the Bible that is used as the origins of wedding ceremonies for the Jewish community. In order to establish a correlation between the origins of Jewish marriages to the modern practices of Jewish wedding ceremonies, we must take a look at what a wedding ceremony consist of for the Jewish people.

After that, the engagement ceremony takes place, which is then represented as occurred by the visited female family members washing the hair of the engaged couple in a single basin, after which their hair is said to be interwoven by a process of entwining which signifies their union as being lifelong, they then walk to the edge of the mesa to pray and witness the rising sun(representing of light and new beginnings). After that, both the groom and bride are said to start from his house to the bride’s house, where they remain until the brides wedding garments are completed. The wedding attire of the bride is apparently hand woven by the groom and any men who wish to participate in the village. The wedding garment is said to contain a large belt, two complete white wedding robes, a white wedding robe which contains red stripes at the bottom and also at the top, a white buckskin moccasins and leggings, a specific string to tie her hair and the whole outfit is said to be wrapped in a reed mat. It is interesting to know that the wedding outfit also will serve as a shroud as these garments are necessary after death for the trip through the underworld. After the completion of the wedding outfit and bride's acceptance, the wedding takes place in the traditional Native American Hopi way at the groom's

there is no official ceremony that unites two people together as a couple, instead it is more the matter of 2 hammocks next to one another. The 'marriage' doesn't define them as sexual partners (it is not uncommon for brothers to sleep with each other's wives)

Wedding ceremonies are often held in a variety of religious chapels for the couple based on their belief. On the other hand, many relationships are accepting a new common trend as couples are now living together, as if they are indeed married but without a legal certificate nor have gone through any ceremonial traditions.

The wedding ceremony is usually presided over by the church minister, but if they are not available,

In America we are known for throwing lavish ceremonies and expensive parties to celebrate the union between two people. I’ve attended quite a few weddings and participated in one during my lifetime thus far. Most weddings in the American culture follow the same itinerary.

Although they are two separate individuals, when they stand up for matrimony, each male and female promises to stand by their significant other for life. To protect, cherish, and love forever. “Outwardly separate, their bodies distinct, yet inwardly joined as one.” (117)This means that they will always be two different people on the outside, however on the inside they made a commitment to connect their souls. To make decisions together, feed off each other, and at the end of every day make sure each other is happy. “Obey his commands in total surrender, this is the fragrance to bring… Abandon self-will, the beloved draw near; no cunning with ever be avail. Be humble in manner and practice restraint, let sweetness of speech be your prayer”(117)This is a very passionate line in the verse that states that taking to each other, not fighting, and respect each other especially in a time of need. To be humble is the most important part of a marriage. Some couples forget what is most important and these lines are there to guide you in a time of

Rituals can be described as an outward expression of inward intention (Rituals, Rites and Festivals, n.d.). Rituals have a prominent role in today’s society as they enable people of all religions to communicate and form a stronger connection with their God or Gods (Rituals, Rites and Festivals, n.d.). Over the years rituals have evolved because society’s values have changed and modern culture has had an influence on them. The sacred ritual of marriage in Catholic Christianity and Hinduism, while superficially different, are essentially the same. This is particularly evident when analysing similarities and differences in each faith’s perception of the purpose of marriage, the structure of the two wedding ceremonies, the symbols involved in the two ceremonies, and the role of family in the Catholic and Hindu wedding ceremony.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the ceremony is conducted within the house of God; some circumstances can warrant the marriage to take place outside of a church, for example one party is unable to appear in the church due to illness. In Catholic marriages, is believed that God blesses the couple and completes the union and it is the couple who marry each other, the priest or minister does not, rather he is a witness of the Church. The couple recite the marriage vows in front of each other, the witnesses (attendees and the priest/minister) and God. These vows serve as a promise to each other and to the church to fulfill their marital obligations, as they are now considered to be 'one flesh'.